


hold me down, hold me down

by CountessKlair



Series: Power Color Squad Stories [1]
Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Brief Violence, F/F, Gen, M/M, No kissing just longing looks and sighing, Team Bonding, Team Feels, Team as Family, They're training, death mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-11-05 21:31:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11021991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CountessKlair/pseuds/CountessKlair
Summary: The Rangers are sparring together one Saturday after the whole Rita Repulsa incident - because apparently winning the fight wasn’t enough for Zordon - and Jason is paired up with Billy, trying to teach him a couple takedowns, when things get a little…interesting.





	hold me down, hold me down

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on my Tumblr, but I'm gonna put it here just in case. (Me: Just in case of what? Also Me: Um????) Warning: First time I’m writing an Autistic character, please correct me if I did anything wrong! Also: No one prompted me to write this, it’s really long for what plot there is, and I think I saw someone write something similar, but I’m just gonna leave this here.

 Trini rolled her eyes high. “Oh just get over it, Zack.”

The boy in question was currently clutching his heart, lying down on the ground above the entrance to the lake where the four of us were waiting for Billy, and moaning loudly, while his audience looked on in varying (low) levels of concern. “Trini, you’re killing me, I’m dying, I’m actually, literally, dying.”

I push down the rush of memory; wet skin, blank eyes, no pulse, he’s dead he’s dead _he’s dead_ -

Kim kneeled down to pat Zacks forehead, smiling, “You don’t look like you’re dying, man.”

“Jason who’s dying? Is everything ok? Jason, what’s going on?” 

As a group, we turned to greet Billy, who's eyebrows were drawn together in concern and a downward tilt to his mouth.

I reached out a hand in a calming gesture. “Zack is just being overly dramatic, Billy, he’s not really dying. He and Trini are arguing about-”

“This is so NOT just about a mere argument, my dear Red Ranger,” Zack hopped up from the ground, winking at Billy, who waved in return, “This is about a piece of history, the very question of good taste, the very foundation upon which our society is built being called into question!”

“All I said was that I didn’t think that The Sandlot was such a great movie!” Trini crossed her arms over her chest, and I started to move towards her to diffuse the argument before it got out of hand, when I notice the relaxed set of her shoulders and the glint of glee in her eyes.

I stepped back and let Zack and Trini squabble for a bit, Kim watching avidly, and reminded myself again that no matter what Zordon says, 'my' Rangers can speak for themselves, and if they need me to intervene they won’t hesitate to ask. Sometimes it was hard to remember that when any of the five of us raised our voices at each other, but the more time we spent together, training and talking and actually getting to be friends with one another, the more that instinct to shove myself between them faded. It had been grating on my nerves, at first, to watch them bicker and not intervene especially since Trini and Zack have a very…loud relationship, for all that Trini never really yells. It’s something that Zack seemed to bring out in everyone, even me, and even though the tone of the conversation had softened a lot since Rita, Zack was still Zack. 

Sometimes I could hardly understand why the coins had picked us,  _us_ , as a group. Billy, of course, I understood, he was born to be a Ranger, he was the best of us all, the smartest and the kindest and the quickest at picking up any challenge and conquering it, no problem. And Trini and Zack I understood too, they were good at this, the adrenaline of knowing you might not come back from something, in a way none of the rest of us were, and Trini and Zack were easily the best at thinking quickly in a fight. And Kim? Kim was a chameleon, she adapted to everything. She used her cheerleading and gymnastics skills to effortlessly glide through battles and assist the others, the very definition of teamwork coming to fruition before she really understood what she was choosing. I was picked because of my 'superior leadership skills' and my 'team instincts' if Zordon was to be believed.

Separately, we made sense as Rangers. But as a group? We were chaos, too many words and nothing said, too many walls put up between each other and no vulnerability. We still had no idea what Trini's home life was like, other than that she had two little brothers and that was that. We didn't make sense together, on paper, but dear fucking  _God_ we came alive as a team. 

There were still fights and screaming matches of varying intensity and still so much distrust between the five of us, but it wasn't always about the worst parts of our history together, anymore, sometimes it was about stupid things like which Star Wars was better or Peanut Butter versus Nutella.

It certainly made for an entertaining group text at least.

Billy waved at me, nonplussed now that he knew Zack was fine. “Hi, Jason.”

I smiled back at him, too late to catch the reaction at the familiar way he said my name, “Hey, Billy,” The words come out too soft, so I clear my throat and ask, “You have any trouble getting here? I was being serious about picking you up from your house earlier.”

Billy shook his head. “No, I’m good. I like running. Not the way that other people that like to run like to run, you know, for exercise, because I get enough of that here when we’re training. I know exercise is important but I don’t think we should exercise too much even if we are Rangers. I like running because it’s quiet, sometimes everything just gets real loud and when I go running that stops, which is great, but I don’t have a great judge of distance so sometimes I go too far, hey Jason do you think I should get a pedometer to track my steps so-”

I continued smiling stupidly at Billy, unable and unwilling to stop, and comfortable enough with the push-pull of our conversations to interrupt, “Yeah, I think you could do that, Billy. If you think it would help. Hell, you could probably build one yourself. You’re really good with that kind of thing.”

Eyes lighting up light stars, Billy nods, “You know, I really think I could, because I was reading something the other day about electrical wiring…”

I almost immediately lost any understanding of the topic, but I’m content to let him talk, just listening to the sound of his voice and watching the way he seems to sort of glow in the afternoon sun, or how maybe he was glowing from his sheer brilliance, either one was possible. Yet again the thought crossed my mind that I was so very much in way too deep over him. 

I caught the way Kim glanced over at the two of us and smirked, eyes alight with entirely too much knowledge about my woefully nonexistent love life. Kim had been the first person I had come to with concerns about how to approach my growing crush on Billy, and after thinking for a bit told me to just “Live life, Jason. We’re Rangers, and I hate to say it, but we really don’t know how much time any of us have.” 

I knew that, I did, I knew that we were living on borrowed time with Billy already. I woke up too many nights now with the smell of sea water and rope mold in my nose, the sound of four hearts breaking and one falling silent. 

Kim had also waggled her eyebrows at me and had said, “I’m sure Zack and I would be excellent wingmen for you. Oh, _wow_ , can’t you just see it? We could even ask Alpha 5 and Zordon! It could be like a group mission! Operation Megazord Power Cupid!” 

I had immediately walked out, ignoring her good-natured ribbing. 

As it currently stood, with her making suggestive motions with her eyebrows toward Billy, I contemplated whether or not it was becoming of a Red Ranger to stick out their tongue in defiance.

“…so really all I’d need is a blowtorch and some magnesium. You know?”

I snapped my attention back to Billy, who was looking expectantly at me. I clapped a hand to his shoulder, leaving it there when he moved into the touch, and answered, “You know, I probably don’t, but I’ve got total faith in you, Billy.”

I turned to the others, whistling shortly to get Trini and Zack to pay attention. “You guys ready to get our asses handed to us by some holograms?”

There was a collective groan, Kim’s louder than anyone else’s. “No, let’s just skip to the bonfire part, I don’t want to get all sweaty.”

I frowned at her. “You usually love training, it's your only excuse to kick my ass, is everything ok?”

Trini and Zack laugh snorted at that.

“Yes,” Kim pouted at me, “Can’t you let me be difficult without making me feel guilty? How come Zack gets to be difficult and I don’t?”

Zack beamed. “It’s all in the cheekbones, Pink.”

I sighed showily, lifting my eyes upward and fighting the instinct to smile at them. “Like taking care of cats, I swear.”

Simultaneously, Billy and Trini both countered, “I prefer dogs.” 

Trini lifted a fist towards Billy, an uncommon, small grin on her face. “Nice.”

Billy paused for a few moments, looking at her fist, before his face cleared and he smiled, reaching out to bump his fist with hers. I felt a small amount of pride at the way Trini let her fist hover, waiting for Billy to decide whether he wanted contact or not.

It was a learning process for all of us, learning Billy’s boundaries and his habits and most importantly how to make him comfortable around us. I thought something about the five of us being, as Billy and Zack had so eagerly put it, ‘Drift Compatible’, made it easier for us all to fit into each other’s lives and spaces, personal differences in background and personality be damned. That didn’t mean that we hadn’t made mistakes with Billy, or Trini or Zack, or even Kim and I, but we all corrected ourselves when told and tried to remember for next time.

Honestly, even if I didn't get it, or understand why I was chosen as the Red Ranger, nothing was as important to me as these four people. Being around the Rangers was good for me, in a lot of senses of the word. I was so angry and anxious and depressed after the Beefcake incident, and being around other people had aggravated that for me at first. Then, the night of our first bonfire, I felt like for the first time I had a group around me that was actually something I could be an honest part of, something that I could belong to without wondering if I was there only out of obligation, like I had often wondered with the football team.

I still loved football, I still missed it dearly, and I was still angry, and that didn’t look like that was going to change anytime soon, but I was dealing with it, the way Kim was dealing with her guilt, the way Zack was dealing with his fears, the way Trini was dealing with whatever was happening in her family life, and the way Billy was dealing with the rest of us being occasional moody assholes.

Kim turned to Trini and held out her hand. “Wanna jump with me?”

“Sure.” Trini took Kim’s hand with an unaffected air, but I swore I saw the barest hint of a flush in her cheeks as they leaped off the cliff together. 

Zack turned towards me, backing up towards the edge. With a cocky grin, he saluted me, “See ya down there, Captain America,” and let himself fall backward down to the lake.

I turned to ask Billy, “Do you wanna go first?”

Billy frowned down at the chasm. “Jason, could we go at the same time?”

I tried not to answer too quickly. “Yeah, sure, buddy.”

I stepped closer to the edge, starting when Billy’s hand brushed up against mine. He looked up at me, expectant. “Trini and Kim held hands.”

My heart beat faster in my chest and I forced my face to remain calm and unconcerned. “Yeah, sure, Billy.”

I held my hand out, waiting patiently before Billy slipped his hand in mine and a short thrill went through me. 

We stepped up to the ledge and jumped.

\-----

“Master Billy, you are becoming quite adept at combat!” Alpha 5 praised all of us equally, but we all had a soft spot for Billy, Alpha 5 and Zordon included, and it showed during training.

Not that any of us really minded, because anything that made Billy happy had a domino effect on the rest of us.

Billy beamed, clapping in a quick succession of three, and I let a smile tug at the corners of my mouth.

Kim, laying down against a rock and catching her breath, suggested innocently, “You know, Billy, you could probably learn a lot from sparring with Jason, he’s around your size so he could show you some _takedowns_ and stuff I bet.”

I turned a hot glare on her but she just blinked sweetly up at me.

Zordon hummed, “That is not a terrible idea. Jason, Billy, take the center of the pit, the rest of you, take a break.”

I shook my head, hot anxiety roiling in my gut at the thought of throwing punches at Billy, sparring or not. “I really don’t know if that’s a good idea-”

Alpha 5 put a metal hand to my back and shoved me forward with surprising strength. “Oh come on, this’ll be a good bonding opportunity.”

Billy’s eyes were downcast a bit and I wanted to kick myself for saying anything. I murmured to him, “Billy, I just don’t want to hurt you, that’s all.”

His mouth thinned a bit. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Jason.”

I nodded, squaring up with him. “I know you are, I’m sorry." I waited for him to nod and square up. "Ok, Billy, let’s start out slow, so just-”

Billy threw a right hook that I barely dodged, and I managed to block his follow-up punch before jumping backward out of reach.

“I thought we were gonna take it slow?” The beginnings of adrenaline swirled low in my stomach.

Billy grinned at me, all teeth. “I’m not slowing down for you, Red.”

I matched his grin, stepping back into the fight.

We traded blows and blocks for a while, the other calling out advice for Billy or good-natured jeering towards me, and I noticed that Billy learned practically in the middle of his punches, changing minute details about his stance and form and velocity to further his efforts. 

I was distracted by this observation when Billy stuck out his leg and hooked his foot behind my calf, yanking me off balance to go crashing to the ground.

He dove on top of me, hands pinning my wrists above my head and his shins trapping my legs.

I felt my pupils blow wide as I looked up at him, I lay there dumbstruck and panting studying every minute detail about him. The curvature of his lean, compact shoulders where the muscle strained against his t-shirt, his eyes dark and focused, sweat beading at his brow, the smell of his skin in my nose.

All I could really focus on was his hands on my wrists, how I couldn’t move, I was completely at his mercy, and how fucking _turned on_ I was all of a sudden, the idea of being beneath Billy, where he could, he could,  _he could-_

“My, Master Jason, your vitals just took a sudden spike, are you all right?”

Alpha 5′s voice was like an ice cold shock, and I remembered that it was highly inappropriate for a Red Ranger to have a hard-on due to sparring with a fellow Ranger, no matter how fucking hot-

Billy jumped up, reaching out a hand to help me, which I accepted, trying to slow my heart rate.

Zack, the traitor, called out, “You look a little _red_  around the collar, Jason.”

Kim and Trini protested at the horrible pun, and I focused on Billy, who was smiling at me, “Jason I did good right?”

I lifted a hand to his shoulder height, watching his body sway into the touch and shoving down the arousal still swirling in my stomach. “You did amazing, Billy. One thing’s for sure, you can definitely take care of yourself.”

Zordon called out, “Passable. Do it again. Kim, Trini, Zack, move towards the Puddies and try to beat your previous attempts.”

A loud groan rose in the room as we all moved towards our assignments. I tried to focus on actually sparring with Billy instead of throwing the match so I could feel his body pressing mine down again.

It was going to be a long afternoon.


End file.
